Baseball with Promotion and Relegation: 1871 to modern day

[kinnikuniverse]

Hello There! This is an experimental project that i've been wanting to do for a while. The idea is simple: what if baseball had promotion/relegation like in european soccer? There is more than enough clubs, both in the past and moderm day, to justify doing such an endeavour, and so i took it upon myself to do this little experiment to see what would happen.

We start in the 1871 season, with only one division, the national league, using the 8 clubs from the 1871 season in game.

-Boston Red Stockings
-Chicago White Stockings
-Philadelphia Atheltic
-Brooklyn Atlantic
-Cleveland Forest City
-Baltimore Orioles (renamed from Canaries)
-Cincinnati Reds
-St. Louis Brown Stockings.

No playoffs, so the team who finishes 1st wins the championship.

Wish me luck!

[kinnikuniverse]

1871 Season Preview:

From what many journalists who attended the spring training camps and friendly games involving the national league clubs against other clubs from their local regions, the Boston Red Stockings are the favorite to win the first ever national league championship, with the Chicago White Stockings and Brooklyn Atlantic expected to be their closest challengers and the Philadelphia Athletic club as the main outside shot.

The boston club, who just appointed the former manager and center fielder of the cincinnati reds, Harry Wright, as player-manager, already earned the services of Wright's younger Brother George as well as right fielder Cal Mcvey, all former reds players. However, the key player for that boston team appears to be the supremely talented second baseman Ross Barnes.

The new york native mightily impressed Harry Wright during a friendly against Rockford City Baseball Club of the Great Lakes first division, so much so that he personally offered him a contract with the red socks for the inaugural 1871 season. The young man is capable of doing anything, from turning the bases to turning double plays and batting in his teammates with precise and powerful hits.

Another factor is a rather unusual approach from the senior Wright in regards to his pitchers. While Wright has signed Al Spalding, also of the Rockford club, to become his hurler, the englishman also signed a second pitcher, the philadelphia, Pennsylvania native known as Cherokee Fisher. The former Troy BC hurler is known for having the hardest thrown pitch in baseball, with opposing hitters seemingly being unable to see the ball coming. That's how fast any pitch thrown by fisher is supposedly going.

Many clubs employ two pitchers so as to alternate between them in between games, so what is odd about wright's approach? Well, judging from what the journalists saw at the last friendly game before the season against mutual Ball Club of new york, Wright called for Fisher to substitute for Al Spalding after the 6th inning, which completely threw the mutual players off guard, having to adapt mid-game to a brand new pitcher. It remains to be seen whether such a strange tactic would work in competitive play...

Boston ain't the only team with a significant amout of talent on their squad. On paper, philadelphia Athletic, managed by pitcher Dick McBride, has just as strong a roster as the red stockings. Boasting the best catcher (fred waterman), third baseman (levi mayherle) and pitcher (Asa Brainard), along with serial hitters Neil Cuthbert and irishman andy leonard, Athletic has what it takes to fulfill their darkhorse ambitions. However, rumoured problems between cuthbert and second baseman Wes Fisler might derail everything...

Chicago has got mike mcgreary, jimmy wood, john bass, dick higham and the other best pitcher in baseball, george zettlein, among their ranks, while cleveland has the quartet of 3b cap anson, 1b everett mills, Shortstop davy force and right fielder gat stires surrounding their star hurler bobby mathews. Brooklyn has the best outfield in baseball in John Hatfield, Dave Eggler and Lip Pike, with deacon white leading the infield for atlantic.

SEASON PREDICTIONS

1. Red Socks 24-6
2. White Socks 22-8
3. Brooklyn 18-12
4. Cleveland 15-15
5. Philadelphia Athletic 14-16
6. Baltimore 12-18
7. Cincinnati 10-20
8. St. Louis 7-23.

Who will become the first ever national league champions? We will find out soon as opening day will see the following fixtures being played:

1:05 PM Games

-Cincinatti at Brooklyn

-Chicago at Philadelphia

Cleveland at Baltimore

4:05 PM Game

St. Louis at Boston.

[kinnikuniverse]

On 1:05 PM, on april fool's day, 1871, was played the first ever fully professional baseball game, between the first ever professional club, the cincinnati reds, and the atlantic Baseball club of Brooklyn, new York, at Brooklyn's capitoline grounds. 20,000 curious visitors saw a high-scoring affair. Atlantic drew first, scoring 5 runs in the first inning. First from a Deacon White triple off joe mcdermott sending home John Hatfield, then Shortstop Chalrie hoded bringing in both white and Lip Pike in from a fielding error by the reds's catcher Henry Kohler, who missed the throw to third trying to catch a base stealing white before Brooklyn's Tom Carey brought Hodes in with a textbook single to center field.

However, a huge 9-run innings at the top of the 5th allowed the reds to take over the game and never look back, scoring 9 more runs in the last 4 innings and McDermott rebounding from his early struggles to reduce the Brooklyn club to only 2 more points as Cincinnati wins the first ever national league game 20-11. Brooklyn would get their revenge the following day, though, with a crushing 14-2 victory, with White, Hodes and Tom Carey all hitting Home Runs.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia Athletic won their opener agaisnt the Chicago Base Ball club, or white stockings, 6-2, with Andy Leonard and Levi Meyerle leading the way with 2 RBIs each. The second game in the program was much more wide open, however, with the score tied 6-6 at the bottom of the ninth, where, after the athletic loaded the bases, pinch hitter Bob Ferguson hits a beautiful gapper to left center-field to give the walk-off 7-6 win for Philadelphia.

Cleveland easily crushes the baltimore Orioles 7-3 and 9-1, while Harry Wright's Boston Red Stockings won two incredible games against the St. Louis Browns stockings. Game 1 saw the browns recover from giving 4 runs in the bottom of the first by grabbing the lead at the top of the third, but ross barnes tied it up 5-5 with an RBI single in the bottom of said inning. A huge 7-run inning gave the red socks a substantial lead, but Al Spalding having trouble with the browns's hitting group in innings 6 and 7 forced Wright to call in Cherokee Fisher in relief. The pennsylvania native reduced the st. Louis club to only two runs more, while harry Wright himself, who had a perfect game, scoring hits in all his plate appearances, would bring in cal mcvey before scoring himself on a Gene Kimball base hit to win it for the Boston club 15-10.



South End Grounds, home of the Boston Red Stockings


Game 2 saw complete domination from the red stockings, with Ross Barnes and Tom York wrecking havoc onto browns pitcher Joe Battin, leading 11-1 all the way until the 9th inning, where Spalding almost blew the game away, giving in 7 runs. Wright called in fisher, and the Philadelphia-born hurler closed up shop as Boston breathed a sigh of relief, the final score ending 11-8 for the Red Stockings.


We will be back with the end of season review.

[kinnikuniverse]

the 1871 Boston Red Stockings

The inaugural national league season has now ended, and what a thrilling end to the season it was!

This season saw a year-long duel between brooklyn atlantic and the Boston Red Stockings. For most of the season, it was Boston who led the way, with the trio of Cal Mcvey, George Wright and Ross Barnes and the quality pitching of both Al Spalding and Cherokee fisher carrying the team to soaring heights. However, heading into the final days of the season, brooklyn's hitting prowesses and JohnMcMullin's league-leading 21 wins allowed the Atlantic to somehow tie with Boston at the top of the standings heading into the final day of thd season, with Brooklyn on a 4-game winning streak while Boston were being hit with inconsistency issues.

On that final day, brooklyn faced cleveland, while Boston had a tied series against Baltimore. Brooklyn had no toruble disposing of cleveland 7-4 with the team's standout hitters, third baseman Deacon White and center Fielder Dave Eggler running wild, but they needed boston to lose against baltimore to become the first ever league champions.

Baltimore were barely leading 3-2 heading into the 6th inning when, against all odds, Harry Wright elected to call cherokee fisher in relief, even though Best Pitcher finalist Al Spalding was perfomring rather well.


some says he drank heavily before that fateful game...

This puzzling move turned out to be a big mistake. Fisher had a rare off night, allowing 5 runs from baltimore in the bottom of the 6th. A three-run rally at the top of the 7th gave hope to boston, but those hopes were dashed by a clutch 8th and 9th by baltimore pitcher Rynie Wolters, who shuts out the side in the last innings while a fred Treacey single brought in one more run for Baltimore for the Orioles to win it 9-5, thus giving the title to Brooklyn in an incredible season-ending 5-game winning streak to snatch the title from The Red Stockings on the final day of the season!



Your inaugural champions of baseball: Atlantic Baseball Club of Brooklyn!


INDIVIDUAL AWARDS



The best player throughout the season has no doubt been Cleveland's Cap Anson. The Third Baseman led the league in batting average with .413 and on-base percentage with .474, while winning the hitting title with 57 hits and getting 16 base on balls, the most in the league.






The best pitchers have been Al Spalding of Boston with the best ERA in the league, 2.62, John McMullin of Brooklyn with the most wins in baseball with 21, while george zettelin of the chicago white stockings barely beat spalding for most strikeouts with 31 over the latter's 27.



Steve King, the first ever player to be traded

Finally, the first ever player trade in the history of the National League occured shortly before the trade Deadline, as the Cincinnati reds, who had a tough season after their star players of the legendary 1869 team got poached by the other national league clubs, Acquiring baltimore Left Fielder Steve King for right fielder Bill J. Kelly. The trade definitely worked, as Cincy played alot better with King joingin George Hall, Dickie Flowers, Charlie Gould and Ezra Sutton in the hitting lineup, with the Reds saving face by finishing in the top 5 over the Orioles and Chicago due to a better run differential.


1871 FINAL STANDINGS

1. Brooklyn Atlantic 21-9
2. Boston Red Stockings 20-10
3. Philadelphia Athletic 18-12
4. Cleveland Forest City 16-14
5. Cincinnati Reds 13-17
6. Baltimore Orioles 13-17
7. Chicago White Stockings 13-17
8. St. Louis Brown Stockings 6-24

[kinnikuniverse]

From october 8th to october 10th, the city of Chicago was engulfed in the blazing flames of a wildfire that consumed much of the northern portions of the city. The biggest losers of this fire is most certainly the chicago baseball club. The white stockings not only lost their home ground,* but also their uniforms and equipement. Seeing that the costs of doing everything all over again would take forever, the club decided to indefinitely stop any and all activities and freeing their players from their contracts. Stars like Dick Higham, Jimmy Wood and John Bass are now forced to play ball elsewhere. George bessett already signed with Boston as the new right fielder, forcing Cal Mcvey to play Catcher, but the others are still looking for clubs to play for in the 1872 season.


NEW CLUBS COMING IN

Following the success of the inaugural national league season, the board are now accepting applications from many of the country's top amateur clubs wishing to enter the league for 1872. After much deliberation, and taking the indefinite suspension of the chicago white atockings into account, the National League accepted the following clubs:


-Mutual Baseball Club of New York


-Washington Olympic Club


-Union Baseball Club of Troy, New York.

That means the National League will be contested by 10 clubs for 1872. Many clubs, such as Exelsior of Brooklyn and the National club of Washington, expressed disappointment in getting shafted for clubs they perceive to be not as prestigious or historic as them. Will the national league find a solution to this tension? Rumours of creating a second division of professional baseball are beginning to circulate...

[kinnikuniverse]

the 1872 national league season will be underway soon, and once again, it is the boston red stockings who are the pre-season favorites alongside last year's champions brooklyn Atlantic, cleveland forest city and philadelphia athletic, who acquired st. louis's top class catcher fergie malone in exchange for left fielder andy leonard, who joins a rapidly improving brown stockings team featuring the likes of chick fullmer, clipper flynn, scott hastings, ed pinkham and pitchers jim britt and bill stearns.

boston has been strengthened by the signing of former chicago right fielder George Bechtel. this mkaes the red socks the most complete team in baseball. whether that will result in the much-anticipated pennant remains to be seen.

cleveland is looking for another big season from their stars cap anson, gat stires and davy force, while the champions brooklyn finally has a dedicated pitcher in former chicago hurler George Zettlein. philaelphia, outside of trading leonard for malone, also signed local product center fielder Count Sensenderfer, who didn't have any game time at brooklyn due to the presence of dave eggler at his position.

as for the new teams, they aren't really expected to do anything this season. however, the mutual club of new york has a player to watch for. young jim o'rourke looks like a superstar in the making.


1872 NATIONAL LEAGUE PRE-SEASON PREDICTIONS

1. boston red stockings 30-10
2. cleveland forest city 27-13
3. brooklyn atlantic 24-16
4. philadelphia athletic 24-16
5. st. louis brown stockings 21-19
6. cincinnati reds 20-20
7. baltimore orioles 18-22
8. washington olympic 17-23
9. new york mutual baseball club 13-27
10. union base ball club 7-33

[kinnikuniverse]

This diary is gonna come back in the next few days. I was away on vacation in new york.

[kinnikuniverse]

The 1872 national league season is shaping up to be a dramatic affair, as three teams are tied at the top of the standings, while three more might potentially join the fray!

For most of the season, it was Brooklyn Atlantic, the reiging champions, with an excellent early-to-mid april, where they only lost 4 games, though of as the point where they would retain their title. Unfortunately for them, the Cleveland Forest City club and boston red stockings were just as excellent, keeping pace with the new york state club until a crucial 3-game series between Boston and Brooklyn. The Atlantic won game 1 4-1, with George Zettling pitching a clinic, but the Red Stockings would win a close game 2 7-5 with a big 5-run 4th inning from boston being the turning point, befofe Harry Wright's men crushed Brooklyn 15-6, with Atlantic having an uncharacterisitiaclly poor defensive performance being seen as the key to this painful loss.

Cleveland, meanwhile, beat the philadelphia Athletic, who are 2 games behind the leaders alongside the St. Louis Brown Stockings and an unexpectedly good baltimore orioles team that has been playing wya over their heads, becoming the 2nd best offense in the league.

Stats wise, Al Spalding, the best pitcher in the game, is also the best hitter in the game, having a whopping .530 Batting Average., while his boston teammates george bechel and ross barnes are leading in runs scored and bases on balls respectively. Levi Meyerle of Philadelphia Athletic is leadign batters with 46 hits.

MID-SEASON STANDINGS

1. Boston Red Stockings 15-7
2. Brooklyn Atlantic 15-7
3. Cleveland Forest City 15-7
4. Balltimore Orioles 13-9
5. St. Louis Brown Stockings 13-9
6. Philadelphia Athletic 12-9
7. Cincinnati Reds 9-13
8. New York Mutuals 8-13
9. Washington Olympic 7-15
10. Troy Unuon BC 2-20

[kinnikuniverse]

Sorry if i haven't been active. Currently busy with other projects. Now that i'm cleared and that i re-installed the game , we will continue this tomorrow.

[kinnikuniverse]

1872 END OF SEASON REVIEW

if the 1872 season's ending is any indication of the future of the National League, then it is most certainly in good hands! with 5 games to go, Brooklyn Atlantic, the reigning champions, would suffer heavy defeats at Troy and St. Louis and miss out on a second consecutive pennant.

meanwhile, A late surge from Cleveland Forest City saw them top the standings, winning 7 straight games and leading by one over Philadelphia Athletic and two from Boston heading into the final days of the season.

however, a crucial loss to Washington Olympic on the penultimate matchday, as well as a red stockings win on that same day put massiv epressure on cap anson and his mates to win their final matchdat fixture against the capital club. victories for Boston and Philly, the latter carried by the MVP-caliber season of third Baseman Levi Meyerle, during that same day out even more pressure on forest city's shoulders.

the fateful game at washington saw Cap Anson and Davy Force score one 2-out RBI each at the top of the second inning. however, costly defensive errors would see washington score 4 at the bottom of said inning. three more runs would follow for cleveland in the 3rd and one more in the 6th, but washington soldiered on, scoring 3 at the bottom of the 6th. thankfully for Cleveland, hurler Bobby Matthews, the best in baseball this year with 26 wins and 40 strikeouts, would keep the olympic bats silent for the rest of the game, with two more runs added in the 8th to secure the win for Cleveland as well as their first National League Pennant!


Brooklyn would have to answer for that late season collapse, while for Boston and Philly, it is yet another lost pennant, from the two best teams in Baseball. Harry Wright would have to figure ut what to do to win that much coveted pennant, while the Athletic will need to solve the issues between Ned Cuthbert and Wes Fisler and fast.

in other news, St. Louis was the breakout club of the year. the brown stockings's trade for Andy Leonard paid off, while their youngsters Chick Fullmer, Scott Hastings, Clipper Flynn and Bill Stearns are blossoming into high-level talents. this is a club to watch in the coming seasons.

while Washington Olympic and New York Mutual didn't do so bad in their first seasons in the National League, with young Jim O'Rourke leading New York on offense, the Union club of Troy were absolutely dreadful, only winning 6 matches total. this laughable performance only added fuel to Excelsior and Washington National's complaints that they should've been the ones to have been invited into the league. the talks of what teams should play in the first division, and how many, grows stronger everyday...


your 1872 National League champions: Forest City Baseball Club!


FINAL STANDINGS FOR THE 1872 NATIONAL LEAGUE SEASON:

1. Cleveland Forest City 27-13
2. Philadelphia Athletic 26-14
3. Boston Red Stockings 26-14
4. Brooklyn Atlantic 24-16
5. St. Louis Brown Stockings 23-17
6. Baltimore Orioles 19-21
7. Cincinnati Reds 18-22
8. Washington Olympic 16-24
9. New York Mutual 15-25
10. Union Baseball Club 6-34

[kinnikuniverse]

during the winter of 1872, the managers of each National League Clubs gathered at the New York Convention center to discuss the game as well as proceed to move players in order to strengthen their clubs.

the first of such trades involved Cherokee Fisher. the tall reliever of the boston Red Stockings, who famously blew away a pennant in 1871, was sent to Cincinnati in exchange for the Reds's center fielder Candy Nelson. both teams fill a need, for Cincy lacked a proper starting Pitcher, while Nelson was stuck behind the massibely talented George Hall on the depth chart. this move is also seen as a sign that Boston player manager, Harry Wright, 37, is looking to step away from the field to focus only on the manager side of things.

meanwhile, Philly opted to solve its problem with Ned Cuthbert and Wes Fisler by shipping them out. Cuthbert was sent to incoming club Brooklyn Excelsior, who had been admitted to the National League after much negotiating, while Fisler was sent to Troy in exchange for young outfielder Paul Hines before finally trading shortstop Ed Duffy to St. Louis in exchange for outfielder Tom Fooley and shortstop Pony Sager.


the biggest news, however, would be the arrival of Brooklyn Excelsior into the National League, with the 1873 season now being contested by 11 teams.the team is led by Cuthbert and highly promising second baseman Jack Burdock. the biggest prospect, however, would be Len Lovett, the new pitching acquisition for the Reds alongside Cherokee Fisher. Cincy looks set to rejoin the top positions in the league.

to be continued....

[kinnikuniverse]

as expected, the Cincinnati Reds, Baseball's first ever fully professional team, has rebounded this season in a big way. the ohio club are now tied with the Boston Red Stockings atop the standings with a game in hand. whiel ross barnes and league leading hitman Cal McVey are the carriers of boston's offense and Al Spalding reconquered his throne as baseball's finest hurler, the Reds's entire team is consistently excellent, led by center fielder George Hall and his .405 average as well as dick higham, steve king and Jim Carlton.

Brooklyn Atlantic aren't far behind, only 1 game behind, but they started the season very poorly, going 6-7 in the first matchweeks before going on a 10-game winning streak. their legendary outfield were also their best hitters, with john mcmullin and lip pike's bats among the hottest in all baseball.

paul hines is the rage in philadelphia. the athletic club's new left fielder, acquired in exchange for wes fisler, leads the team with .342 and 20 rbis. the new young players and getting rid of cuthbert and fisler did wonders for the team's morale.

jim o'rourke continues his rise to stardom as New York mutual enjoy a great season. 3 and a half games behind the leaders.champions cleveland, meanwhile, started the season by losing their first 5 games, and inconsistent form brings them to 6th place in frotn of St. Louis.

the brown stockings proceeded to one of the rare trades of this season. Starting Pitcher Bill Stearns was sent to Boston in exchange for third baseman Warren White. Harry Wright brough an arm to finallly give Al Spalding some rest, while S.t Louis got a new starting 3rd baseman in order to move chick fullmer full time to shorstop following the disappointing performances of ed duffy. rookie Al Nevin will take over White's former spot at 3rd base for the red socks.

finally, Brooklyn atlantic acquired pitcher John Greason from the reds in exchange for catcher Tommy Beals.


MID-SEASON STANDINGS

1. Cincinnati Reds 18-6
2. Boston Red Stockings 18-7
3. Brooklyn Atlantic 17-7
4. New York Mutual 15-10
5. Philadelphia Athletic 14-10
6. Cleveland Forest City 14-10
7. Washington Olympic 12-15
8. St. Louis Brown Stockings 11-14
9. Brooklyn Excelsior 8-16
10. Union Baseball Club 7-12
11. Baltimore Orioles 1-23

[kinnikuniverse]

Cal Mcvey, Ross Barnes and Al Spalding, the big 3 of the Boston Red Stockings

At last, third time was the charm for the Boston Red Stockings, for they finally won the pennant for the first time ever on the penultimate matchday, where great performances from Denny Mack, Ross Barnes and league MVP Cal Mcvey sank the reigning champions Cleveland 12-4 while Cincy lost three of their last 5 games, two agaisnt forest city anx 1 against the* bottom dwellers baltimore.

New pitcher Bill Stearns's acquisition proved to be the key to the pennant for boston, as it gave ace pitcher Al Spalding enough rest to light it up in the last games of the season, leading the red stockings to victory in their last 6 games to clicnh the championship.



better luck next year for Cincy


Cincinnati, meanwhile, can leave 1873 with their heads held high, for despite losing this year's pennant, they can be considered strong favorites for next year's, with talent like George Hall, Mickey Rivers, Ezra Sutton and pitcher Len Lovett and Cherokee Fisher. Meanwhile, Brooklyn would fall down to 6th thanks to losing 6 of their last 7 games, being overtaken to 5th place by a surgent philadelphia Athletic. Their crosstown rivals, Mutual BC, would enjoy a great sophomore year by finishing in the top 4, largely thanks to Jim O'rourke's bat and Cy Bentley's pitching. Washington Olympic register their first winning season, while the St. Louis Brown Stockings can be considered the big disappointement of the season. Despite strong hitting all year long, inconsistent results and pitching sent last year's top 5 finisher into 8th place.

Despite* a strong start to the season with 3 wins and 2 losses, Brooklyn Excelsior would suffer from a terrible run of form late in the season to finish in 9th. So much for the club that kept taunting that they deserved to be in the league instead of troy...

Your 1873 National League champions:

Boston Red Stockings



1873 Final Standings

1. Boston Red Stockings 27-10
2. Cincinnati Reds 25-12
3. Cleveland Forest City 23-14
4. New York Mutual 20-15
5. Philadelphia Athletic 21-16
6. Brooklyn Atlantic 21-16
7. Washington Olympic 20-17
8. St. Louis Brown Stockings 16-19
9. Brokklyn Excelsior 12-22
10. Troy Union BC 10-27
11. Baltimore Orioles 5-32